3.1 The Plan for North Lanarkshire was established in 2019 with a very clear vision - inclusive growth and prosperity for all - to bring equal benefits and a fairer distribution of wealth to all North Lanarkshire’s people and communities.

• Founded on a place-based ambition, The Plan for North Lanarkshire has at its core an ambition to transform the physical environment of North Lanarkshire in a way that recognises the intrinsic value - and economic, social, and health benefits - gained in doing so.
• This ambition recognises that implementing a place-based approach originates from the need to address spatial concentrations of disadvantage which, in recent years, have become further exacerbated by a growing complexity of problems being presented in terms of economical, health, and social issues. As such, a place-based approach aims to target an entire community and tackle issues that exist at the neighbourhood level (such as employment, education, skills, economic stability, housing, and health), and address fragmented service provision that leads to gaps or duplication of effort.
• Investing in a place-based approach and focusing on the physical environment of local communities, and on better integrated and more accessible service systems therein, underpins the holistic approach (that crosses public sectors and service silos) being delivered through the Programme of Work. This approach aims to make The Plan for North Lanarkshire real for people, and North Lanarkshire a place which individuals can identify with - a place to live, learn, work, invest, and visit.

3.2 Prior to The Plan for North Lanarkshire being formally established in 2019, the shared ambition for inclusive growth and prosperity was set out in a report approved at committee in September 2018. This shared ambition was based on evidence through an original dataset which later evolved into the 28 health check indicators. This report outlined the future direction for North Lanarkshire to be a place where everyone is given equality of opportunity and where individuals are supported, encouraged, and cared for at each key stage of their life. The Plan for North Lanarkshire is deliberately one plan for one place as partners from the North Lanarkshire Community Planning Partnership endorsed this approach from the outset and signed up to the shared ambition therein for the North Lanarkshire area.

• When The Plan for North Lanarkshire was established, the area’s demographic, social, and economic profile at the time showed a positive picture in terms of economic growth, inward investment, employment, and educational attainment, but still unacceptably high levels of deprivation and child poverty and clear areas of inequity and inequality. This meant that not all North Lanarkshire’s people were sharing equally in the improving picture, and there was an element of social exclusion across some towns and communities.
• Since The Plan for North Lanarkshire was established, the 28 health check indicators have continued to provide a robust, consistent, and independent way of collectively providing the context for North Lanarkshire as a place as well as assessing change over time. The most recent results, reviewed by the Policy and Strategy Committee in March 2025, indicate that 50% of the indicators show improvement over the period of The Plan for North Lanarkshire.
• In 2023, the trends in the 28 health check indicators (which showed that challenges remain) were key to reframing a new five-year Programme of Work (and its fifth iteration). This was considered crucial to ensure a heightened and more strategic focus on not only sustaining the economic and community aspects, but also on ensuring a more targeted approach to improving social conditions and outcomes.
• The health check indicators have continued to play a key role in the council’s approach to strategic planning and informing delivery of the Programme of Work to 2028 to ensure that the stubborn scale of deprivation in areas that are hardest to reach is targeted through policy developments that are focused on tackling unstable trends. This is a critical aspect to assessing impact and ensuring the success of the place-based ambition of The Plan for North Lanarkshire, as both place-based regeneration and person-based policies need to cross policy sectors and be developed and implemented in tandem - as well as integrated with wider investment and poverty reduction strategies - if transformational change is to truly make a difference. As such, a mid-term review of the five-year Programme of Work is underway that is informed by the latest results for the 28 health check indicators as well as supplementary evidence and context. A broad overview of this review is set out in a report to the Policy and Strategy Committee in March 2025.

3.3 As the Programme of Work is the delivery vehicle that is making The Plan for North Lanarkshire real, it has been instrumental since its implementation in 2019 in stabilising the strategic direction of the council (including work in partnership) in the face of a fast paced, rapidly changing, and relentlessly uncertain future local government environment, while allowing for appropriate flexibility in the operational delivery of many complex inter-connected programmes, projects, activities, and plans to ensure a dedicated focus on transformational change that improves the lives of local people.

• The five-year Programme of Work to 2028 approved in March 2023 was followed by a supporting single integrated one council Delivery Plan reported to the Policy and Strategy Committee in March 2024. This is underpinned by a governance framework which sets out, inter alia, roles and responsibilities, alignment across other corporate processes, and the corresponding monitoring, reporting, risk management, internal controls, and quality assurance arrangements.
• Programme of Work achievements to date (reported to the Policy and Strategy Committee in March each year) highlight developments that are key to creating the economic, social, and community conditions that will enable local people and communities (and the place that is North Lanarkshire) to thrive. These focus on the investment made to establish the solid foundations required to support the place-based ambition and show how the one place one plan one council approach and ongoing leadership and commitment to the Programme of Work are making a difference. Recent highlights, reported in March 2025, include the following:

- Good progress being made in terms of five new community hubs being built at various sites across North Lanarkshire.

- The 65th new supply development starting on site to deliver more new homes for social rent and increase the new supply programme to further support the regeneration of local communities and town centres, create jobs, and boost the local economy.

- The 800th property purchased under the open market purchase scheme to increase the supply of affordable homes for rent, address housing needs, and support the regeneration of local communities.

- Creating 17.2 km of active travel routes to help establish a network of safe, accessible walking / wheeling / cycling routes to help people access employment, education, and leisure opportunities, improve health and well-being, and reduce carbon emissions.

- Developing a new heritage and countryside trail, designed to showcase North Lanarkshire's rich history through engaging stories and interactive experiences. Set across 10 locations, this has been developed to attract tourists and locals to explore the area as well as promote active lifestyles and health and wellbeing.

-Conducting the first trials of new materials designed to reduce carbon in the roads industry through a partnership with Transport for West Midlands, Amey, and Colas, as part of ADEPT Live Labs 2 (a three-year UK-wide programme funded by the Department for Transport aimed at decarbonising the local road network).

- Establishing the Invest Here website to capitalise on North Lanarkshire’s position at the heart of Scotland with excellent transport links to support inward investment and show the range of opportunities available to support new businesses and key industry sectors to plant roots, grow, and support the local economy. This is supported by the new Invest in North Lanarkshire advisory service to provide bespoke advice to help streamline and accelerate the statutory consent process for developers.

- Being the first council in Scotland to achieve the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Local Authority Award at the gold standard.

- Delivering a range of technological developments to further support connectivity and digital inclusion across North Lanarkshire, including a chat bot functionality on the council’s website to enable residents to receive automated responses or chat to an advisor, extension of public wi-fi, three more immersive experience facilities, expansion of the inter-generational project that encourages older residents to use technology to enrich their lives and support social inclusion through one-to-one training with young people from local schools, smart lighting and Internet of Things pilots deployed to Palacerigg and Strathclyde Country Parks, and more processes / services becoming available for public interaction through the council website.

- Various public and stakeholder feedback events on many significant local developments to allow residents to provide their views and shape the next steps, including in relation to Cumbernauld Town Centre, the Local Transport Strategy, the Local Development Plan, East Airdrie Link Road, new digital zones, and the Rediscovering Airdrie project.

- Further developing the use of the three new hubs already built and in operation over the period of The Plan for North Lanarkshire. These hubs are now seeing delivery of integrated and inclusive whole family support accessible at the heart of local communities. Activities being delivered from hubs also includes partnership working in relation to employment pathways, community learning and development, and health improvement.

- Growing the council tax income base by adding 4,853 housing properties over the duration of The Plan for North Lanarkshire, with 346 properties to the non-domestic rates income base over the same period.

- Achieving a successful Best Value audit for the second year as part of the national approach. The 2024 audit focussed on workforce innovation and recognised that the council’s workforce planning approach is integrated with The Plan for North Lanarkshire, has a focus on developing the workforce of the wider North Lanarkshire area, and is supported by robust service workforce plans. The audit also noted that the council is proactive in developing its workforce as well as that of the wider North Lanarkshire area and works across a range of partnerships to deliver services for communities.

- Delivering many community benefits which have been derived through Programme of Work activities - such as providing jobs and training through the new supply programme, creating opportunities for local businesses and supply chains through large scale regeneration programmes, targeted training and recruitment for pupils with additional support needs, and summer placement programmes for young people about to leave school. Financial benefits have also been gained, such as donations from various groups to build beds for disabled plot holders and to work with young people living in deprived areas, with non-financial support received from contractors in relation to donating training, time, and excess materials for local projects.

3.4 These achievements are further supported by the council’s commitment made in 2022 - for itself and the area of North Lanarkshire - in respect of achieving net zero through the Action on Climate Together Plan. This aims to further support delivery of the place-based ambition and an update in this respect was reported to the Environment and Climate Change Committee in February 2025. This also highlights some of the council’s climate activity and actions which contribute to reducing North Lanarkshire’s emissions as well as encouraging more sustainable practices within the area, and provides an update on the implementation of the national adaptation plan.

3.5 The transformation of North Lanarkshire to date has been able to be realised through decisions made by the council’s committees that have been unwavering in their support to not just deliver the Programme of Work, but to ensure it is delivered with a greater focus on scale and purpose that escalates positive changes in a way that improves the lives of the people and communities of North Lanarkshire.

3.6 These decisions have been consistently underpinned by various Policy and Strategy Committee approvals, for example of the Medium-Term Financial Plan 2025/26 to 2029/30, the Strategic Capital Investment Programme for 2024/25 to 2028/29 (bolstered by the Community Investment Fund), and the One Workforce Plan. This supports the one place, one plan, one council approach to the transformation of North Lanarkshire for progress that is made at pace and scale in order to improve the lives of local people through activities that are underpinned by sound financial management, risk management, and corporate governance controls to ensure the council remains financially sustainable.

• Six monthly Programme of Work progress reports have continued to support the role of the Policy and Strategy Committee in maintaining their strategic oversight role of the overall Programme of Work to 2028 (in line with the Scheme of Administration). This role relates to the “development, coordination, and monitoring of The Plan for North Lanarkshire” and to keeping under review such “programmes as the Committee considers necessary to achieve the council’s long-term aims and objectives”.

3.7 Sitting alongside the Programme of Work - as a key aspect of the council’s strategic planning framework - is the Strategic Policy Framework. This specifies the hierarchy of strategies, policies, and plans which underpin delivery of the vision set out in The Plan for North Lanarkshire and ensures that strategy and policy remain connected to delivery in order to collectively facilitate a co-ordinated approach to identifying the resources and working practices needed to support delivery of the long-term vision. Through a structured approach, the Strategic Policy Framework aims to ensure that strategies, policies, and plans are formulated, developed, implemented, monitored, and reviewed in a consistent and transparent manner across the council.

• The latest Strategic Policy Framework was approved by the Policy and Strategy Committee in March 2024. The supporting review programme ensures each of the strategies, policies, and plans are up to date, reviewed and updated at an appropriate interval, and reported to the relevant committee. A guidance document supports the development and monitoring processes for strategies, policies, and plans, and ensures ongoing openness and engagement through stakeholder consultation.
• An improvement implemented during 2024/25 was a lite touch assessment of all strategies, policies, and plans updated during the year to ascertain compliance with the Strategic Policy Framework guidance. The outputs from this assessment were reported in the annual position statement update to the Audit and Scrutiny Panel in October 2024. This also supported implementation of the improvement action previously identified by Audit Scotland in their Best Value thematic work which stated that “the council should look to improve its existing processes for engaging Elected Members on the overall strategic planning process”.

3.8 Key to evaluating the success of The Plan for North Lanarkshire and assessing delivery of the Programme of Work (while ensuring each stage of delivery towards achieving the overall vision is appropriately aligned, planned, guided, implemented, monitored, and governed) are six inter-related corporate frameworks that aim to maintain a corporate one council approach across the organisation:

• Strategic Policy Framework
• Strategic Governance Framework
• Strategic Performance Framework
• Strategic Self-Evaluation Framework
• Project Management Framework
• Framework for Demonstrating Improved Outcomes for Communities

3.9 To ensure these frameworks remain aligned to The Plan for North Lanarkshire and Programme of Work, all are on a regular review and refresh programme. This also helps the council to ensure it is proactive in responding to social, economic, and environmental trends and changes in legislation and governance, as well as the broad range of national policy changes and new developments. Updates in respect of these frameworks are captured in the Strategic Governance Framework review programme each year and a summary is provided below.

Strategic Self-Evaluation Framework

• Aligned to the seven themes in the national Best Value guidance, the council’s Strategic Self-Evaluation Framework is supported by a rolling review programme. This Framework provides a regular mechanism to assess the council’s functions and activities and identify areas for improvement through a single strategy for improvement that (a) is in line with the Best Value duty to secure continuous improvement, and (b) ensures self-evaluation is undertaken within the context of fulfilling the vision set out in The Plan for North Lanarkshire.
• The update to the Strategic Self-Evaluation Framework in October 2022 introduced a corporate approach to Options Appraisal. While the use of options appraisal was already widespread across the council, the approach was formalised to ensure that the outcomes from such exercises continue to provide assurances that service provision is efficient and effective and represent value for money, and that decisions made remain consistent with the strategic direction for the council, as set out in The Plan for North Lanarkshire.
• Minor changes to the latest update to the Strategic Self-Evaluation Framework in February 2024 ensured ongoing alignment with the national approach to auditing Best Value through thematic audit work, as well as ongoing compliance with Best Value guidance in terms of the importance of the council continuing to use self-evaluation to identify areas for improvement.
• Since the Strategic Self-Evaluation Framework and rolling review programme was formally established (and approved by the Audit and Scrutiny Panel), ten self-evaluation exercises have been undertaken. A summary of each exercise has been included in previous year’s Annual Governance Statements and an annual monitoring process is in place to capture the status of implementing the improvement actions arising from each self-evaluation exercise:

- The ten self-evaluation exercises resulted in areas for improvement being identified and captured in supporting improvement plans. In general, these aimed to further strengthen existing arrangements, rather than address any significant issue in terms of effectiveness.

- Implementation of the improvement actions arising from the 2023 self-evaluation of the Audit and Scrutiny Panel (reported to the Panel in September 2023), and how effectively it was discharging its role, were completed during 2024/25. A follow up self-evaluation is scheduled to be undertaken during 2025/26.

- The remaining improvement actions from the Data Governance Board self-evaluation undertaken in 2021 were integrated within the senior information risk owner annual performance and assurance process for which the latest update was reported to the Finance and Resources Committee in February 2025.

- A self-evaluation was undertaken in early 2025 in relation to the council’s compliance with the CIPFA Financial Management (FM) Code; this followed on from the initial evaluation undertaken in 2022. The 2025 self-evaluation concluded that the council’s financial management practices comply with all aspects of the CIPFA FM Code with an average overall rating of 99.6% from the assessment team in terms of strongly agreeing or agreeing the extent of compliance across all the 17 financial management standards. This is an improvement from 98% in the initial assessment in 2022. There were no disagree or strongly disagree assessments assigned by the assessment team in the 2025 survey - this is an improvement from 2% disagreeing in the initial assessment in 2022. This suggests the assessment team considered there were no areas where the council did not comply across all 17 financial management standards in the 2025 self-evaluation and was supported by the accompanying qualitative feedback from the assessment team. The corresponding discussions in the consensus session focused on areas where the assessment team considered the council could improve / further strengthen existing arrangements, rather than a need to address any significant issue in relation to non-compliance. As such, an improvement plan is in place focussing on strengthening existing arrangements around three of the CIPFA FM Code principles.

Project Management Framework

• A review and refresh of the council’s project management model in 2022 was supported by a self-evaluation exercise. This was required to ensure the council’s arrangements remained fit for purpose and able to effectively support delivery of The Plan for North Lanarkshire, and followed recommendations arising from Internal Audit reports on managing strategic change and the governance of capital projects. The review was also considered necessary in light of the changes in the council’s operating environment since the implementation of the model in 2018. These changes had led to a rapid evolution of programmes and projects across the council, as well as increasing complexities in the delivery of many of these, and a growing need for good governance and good project management to set up and deliver a wider range of projects at pace and scale, and ensure these are well-directed, delivered to time, cost, and quality targets, and provide the expected benefits and improved local outcomes.
• Following a successful pilot, Project Management training was rolled out across the organisation from February 2023 and has continued into 2024/25. This comprises a programme of half and full day training sessions for which Chief Officers identified the employees who had to undergo the training. Feedback from these sessions was very positive and a refresher programme has been developed and rolled out for 2025/26.
• During 2024, the Project Management Framework was subject to a light touch review to ensure it continued to remain fit for purpose. This refresh took account of key feedback arising from the aforementioned training programme, reiterated the requirement to undertake a post project evaluation, incorporated the gateway check process from the Invest in North Lanarkshire Programme of Work, reiterated the importance of Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) being given due consideration at the beginning of a project, and raised awareness that project management and change management need to complement each other and work in tandem to support delivery of the Programme of Work to 2028.
• Quality assurance arrangements have been established and aligned to the governance supporting the Programme of Work to 2028 to ensure the council can (a) demonstrate compliance with the Project Management Framework, and (b) monitor delivery of projects and activities supporting the Programme of Work in line with the dimensions within which a project requires to be delivered, i.e. scope, quality, time, cost, resources, risk, and completed status. Quality Assurance results are subject to regular audits by Internal Audit and also to review and strategic oversight by the Audit and Scrutiny Panel (in February 2024 and February 2025).

Strategic Performance Framework

• The Strategic Performance Framework is supported by a Performance Reporting Schedule which sets out the performance reporting, monitoring, review, and scrutiny arrangements for The Plan for North Lanarkshire by way of a reporting schedule and set of non-negotiable standards. During 2024/25, information regarding items on the Performance Reporting Schedule (i.e. Chief Officers’ six monthly performance reviews at service committees and service specific reporting to meet business and/or statutory obligations) was made available to the Audit and Scrutiny Panel through quarterly performance assurance reports in order to support the Panel’s scrutiny and strategic oversight role.
• Since its implementation the Performance Reporting Schedule has been regularly reviewed and updated. An update to the reporting schedule is expected to be submitted to the Audit and Scrutiny Panel in cycle 3 of 2025; this will include due consideration of the impact of the newly published Accounts Commission Statutory Direction for 2025/26 to 2027/28.
• During 2024/25 there were 58 performance reports produced in line with the Performance Reporting Schedule. A small number of reports did not make the scheduled reporting cycle, but clear explanations were provided that were found to be logical and sensible, and an agreement was reached on an appropriate subsequent reporting cycle. It should be noted that as the Reporting Schedule is developed only once a year as at a moment in time, it is expected that national changes or changes in local operating contexts and priorities may have an impact on subsequent reporting requirements and dates.
• During 2024/25, Chief Officers’ six-monthly reports in line with the Strategic Performance Framework followed the standard template. This ensured that all reports consistently (a) set out the current context within which the service is operating, (b) highlighted areas of good performance that could be evidenced in the accompanying data, (c) provided a summary of areas of performance requiring improvement along with narrative that gives an explanation for the level of performance achieved and summarises the remedial action implemented (or to be implemented) to bring performance back on track, and (d) demonstrated that the loop has been closed in terms of implementation and monitoring of both improvement actions and subsequent performance levels.
• Previously, the extent of the action undertaken by each audience when reviewing and scrutinising the performance information before them has been varied. The ask of the audience reading the report is now specifically (and appropriately) referenced in performance reports to service committees. This practice was already in place for Audit and Scrutiny Panel reports for the scrutiny function of the Panel. Specific training was held in 2024 in relation to the scrutiny of performance; this aimed to further complement awareness raising and roles and responsibilities (as identified through the aforementioned Audit and Scrutiny Panel’s self-evaluation exercise in 2023).
• Reporting of the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) measures are integrated into the Strategic Performance Framework alongside the wider suite of measures within each Chief Officers’ area of responsibility. This approach ensures that reports contain a suite of all relevant performance indicators in order to provide a complete picture of performance. The council’s website hosts a new dashboard for LGBF measures which was launched by the Improvement Service in 2023. This provides an easy way to view a live picture of the most up to date performance for a benchmarking measure as at a point in time. It also enables North Lanarkshire’s performance to be compared with other local authorities and the national average. The use of this dashboard is signposted in performance reports to service committees.